Bredon Hill

St Catherine's Well lies high up on steep N flank of Bredon Hill on private land; there is no right of way up to it but in practice access is unlikely to be denied. It is not easy to find and an OS map is pretty well essential.

The well, in fact a small spring, emerges into an unobtrusive stone trough before flowing northwards down the side of the hill. From the site there is a superb view northwards across the Midland Plain and would be an excellent venue for a summer solstice gathering were it not for the fact that the view to the NE is spoilt by a modern conifer plantation. However, given that St Catherine often turns up at high places and sites associated with the sun in pre-Christian times, the site may have had some such use and associations in the past.

Until the Reformation (1530s) the site had been a place of pilgrimage, with a medieval pilgrims' chapel standing close to the spring. The chapel was either destroyed or simply allowed to fall into decay in the wake of the Reformation and there are no surface traces of it today.

Clent Hills - St Kenelms Well

Due the proximity of this site to Wychbury Hill, it has been included in the West Midlands section.

Hanbury Church

There is actually nothing of interest inside or outside of the church. However its setting is quite spectacular as it sits on top of a prominent but wooded hill with a clear view over the steeper edge towards the east. It is also a phenomenally atmospheric place at dusk on a winter's evening, especially if it's misty, and is generally rumoured to have been an ancient pre-Christian holy place. Given its setting this is not impossible, but anyway it's a place of power and it is "used" occasionally.

Malvern Hills

Herefordshire Beacon - Second highest peak of the Malvern ridge and the site of a spectacular Iron Age hill fort with magnificenly-preserved ramparts and a view second to none, stretching from the Cotswolds to Wales and right along the ridge as well.

Prime's Well on the western slope is the site of one of the most famous dream-visions in English literature, being the place where the hero of William Langland's 14th century masterpiece of Christian visionary literature, The Vision of Piers the Plowman, lay down to sleep and dreamed the visions which make up the rest of the book. Sadly, the water is now piped and commercially bottled as Malvern Spring Water.

Midsummer Hill - another peak of the Malvern ridge, also having an Iron Age hill fort on its top. A superb place from which to view the summer solstice sun set (NW of the ridge) and the following sunrise (NE of the ridge), the sun having swept beneath the ridge overnight. Until the mid 19th century, this was a favourite peak for local folks to hold their Midsummer vigil and bonfire - hence the name. Another weird and otherworldly place!